1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus equipped with modules having respective microprocessors, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a technique concerning update of firmware installed in an image forming apparatus, there has been proposed a firmware update system (see e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-108957). The firmware update system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-108957 upgrades the version of firmware by the following control:
In the case of updating one software part associated with a print job, it is determined whether or not a print job reserved as a timer job awaiting execution includes an operation requiring the use of the software part to be updated. If it is determined that the reserved print job includes no such operation, the software part is updated.
If it is determined that the reserved print job includes such an operation but that a software part provided in another image forming apparatus on a network can be used as an alternative to the software part to be updated, rescheduling is performed so as to use the image forming apparatus that can be used. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no image forming apparatus that can be used as an alternative, the update request is made pending.
By performing the above-described control, it is possible not only to delete and update firmware at high speed, but also to delete and update a software part for executing a timer job, in a timing deemed appropriate such that a general job can be performed without any trouble.
Further, there has conventionally been proposed another firmware update system (see e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-273143). The firmware update system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-273143 upgrades the version of firmware by the following control:
In a system where firmware is downloaded from an external apparatus so as to be temporarily stored in a RAM (backup RAM) area, and is then written in a PROM area, first, the firmware is temporarily stored in the RAM (backup RAM) area and is then reset. Further, the system has a firmware update function of writing the firmware stored in the RAM (backup RAM) area into the PROM area and then starting the operation of the firmware, and detects a job which is being executed and a job which is awaiting execution. The system makes the operation of the firmware update function pending for the duration of time that a job currently being executed and a job waiting execution are detected.
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for the use of an image forming apparatus as a center printer in an office, and therefore it is demanded that an image forming apparatus executes its functions with further reduced downtime. In particular, it is demanded to solve a problem with the conventional technique that the print function of an image forming apparatus cannot be used at all during update of firmware in the image forming apparatus.
In the above-mentioned conventional technique (prior art), it is possible to update firmware without turning on/off the power of an image forming apparatus. However, a print job input to the image forming apparatus after the start of upgrade of the version of firmware is not mentioned.
For example, in the method mentioned in the conventional technique, even when firmware of a post-processing apparatus (finisher) connected to an image forming apparatus is under update, it is possible to continue the operation of the system, but there is no means established for receiving a print job. Therefore, improvement of user friendliness is sometimes insufficient.
In the case of issuing a print job to an image forming apparatus, a user needs to ensure that update of firmware is not being performed, before issuing the print job. For this reason, irrespective of the contents and kind of a module targeted for firmware update, the user cannot issue a print job to the image forming apparatus until the firmware update is completed.